Currency ban in indiaWhat was the effect of this ban on India?

Background

On November 8th, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi passed a bill against black money and corruption in India. He chose to disable 500 and 1,000 rupees. These two bills had been 80% of currency in India. In response, people chaotically ran to banks and closed ATMs to attempt to trade their money in for 100 rupee bills. Modi announced that the old bills could be exchanged for new ones but those were in short supply.

Who was impacted?

- Everybody in India was impacted. Guru Birajdar, a lawyer, said he couldn't even buy a cup of tea. “I didn’t go to work today because I had no cash. All my money is in 500s and 1,000s, so I had to come straight to the bank this morning. I had two 100-rupee notes in my wallet on Tuesday night, but I used that up yesterday.” Indian civilization was paralyzed.

- Farmers had been greatly affected by this new change. Most farmers dealt only exclusively with cash and with this new bill they lost almost all of their business.

What alterations did modi make for the complaints?

The government cut the exchange limit from 2,000 rupees or 4,500 rupees to more widely distribute the money.

Because of the wedding season, families celebrating a marriage are able to withdraw 250,000 rupees for the event.

Farmers gained relief because they were allowed to withdraw 25,000 against their crop loans.

Traders were given the permission to withdraw 50,000 rupees a week to pay for produce and labor at wholesale stores.

The government has been raising to calibrate ATM's with smaller value rupees and newly issued 2,000 rupee notes.

Relation to hinduism and buddhism

This relates to karma because the black money holders in India are now going to live in fear for their wrongdoings. "At least for some years, black money holders will live in fear for what’s coming next for them,” he wrote." - Milan Odedara

This relates to the story of King Ashoka because after Modi's law was passed, the consequences that occurred after, Modi was overwhelmed and forced to change his tactics and loosen his bonds on the currency ban.

There is a relation to caste in this event because it shows how much control over the society people in power are. Prime minister Modi has complete power over this law being made even though it is greatly affecting people in poverty or in a "lower caste".

I believe that the legacy of Hinduism that has faded the most is Maya. People are very focused on money and success in India rather than religion.

Why should americans know about hinduism and buddhism to understand what is going on in the world today?

I believe that Americans should know about Hinduism and Buddhism to understand current events because it gives explanations to many things people cannot explain. For example, karma is a good reason why many things may happen. When someone or a collective group of people does badly, bad things will happen to them. This is portrayed many times in Western religions as well. In Judaism, it is told that the profit Noah lives in a horrible community with people who acted horrible. God is said to have created a flood that killed the whole community because of their actions.

Dharma is also a good explanation for many of the things that happen in the world. Though some things people do are completely unjustifiable, it lets people see the situation in a different way if you understand that it is something they are obligated to doing.